Chapter 0 - Set Aside
Submitted June 23, 2008 Updated June 23, 2008 Status Complete | Dudley had never liked his cousin Harry. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t like Harry, it was because he didn’t like the all the attention his own mother gave to Harry. AU
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Books » Harry Potter series |
Chapter 0 - Set Aside
Chapter 0 - Set Aside
Set Aside
Dudley had never liked his cousin Harry. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t like Harry, it was because he didn’t like the all the attention his own mother gave to Harry. It was disheartening at times to know that his own mother would pay more attention and care to his cousin. In the end, he still didn’t like Harry; Harry had taken his mother away from him.
No one in the neighborhood noticed this, was what Dudley had thought. To any outsider, his mother was a woman of good standing, taking in her orphaned nephew and spilling love and care into him as if she were his mother instead. Outwardly, Dudley’s mother was a sweet woman, kind and considerate, though forgetful at times. Dudley, however, knew this was not entirely true. His mother was certainly kind and sweet, but not as compassionate as others may think. She was shrewd when it concerned the matters of strangers and outsiders. She was politely rude to those she didn’t like and warily cautious to strangers she didn’t know. Her attitude to her family was mainly indifference. She would go about doing her job as the good wife; keeping the house orderly and always ready to entertain guests. When they were alone with just the four of them present, she would be all stiff and formal with her husband, polite and considerate to her son and to little Harry, she would be full of motherly love and gentleness.
After the violent incident involving his father sending Harry to the hospital in a critical state and certain death, Dudley had changed. His views concerning his mother, father and even Harry were all shattered, and each of them were replaced with a much different role. His father became the antagonist, the one to break the happy family down even more before running off as a convicted criminal. His mother became an abused wife, a supporting character to fill in any holes in the plot, only there to support the family. He himself became a protagonist in the story with Harry gone; he would be leading the story from onwards. And Harry? Harry had become the tragic hero, he had died in an attempt to protect his second-mother from abuse.
Dudley did not know what to do to help his mother regain her footing in the real world. They would need stick together from onwards to keep the remaining family from functioning properly. His mother was the only real family he had left, and she to him. Harry was gone from their lives.
When he had heard that Harry had died, he didn’t know how to react. What he did know was that ‘dead’ meant that a person wasn’t going to come back, ever. At first, Dudley had thought that he would be happy to hear such news, but soon he was sad and depressed. His mother was a mess, even less conscious of him than when Harry was around. Dudley hated Harry then even more. Why had Harry died?
It was many years later that Dudley learned that he was magical, and was invited to the magic school, Hogwarts and study there to become a fully trained wizard. He had never known about magic before and thought it to be a joke, until his mother had broken down at the sight of the letters sent to the house. Yes, letters. There were two parchment letters, one addressed to Dudley, and the other to Harry J. Potter c/o Petunia Dursley, No.4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. His mother had been like that for days until she managed to calm down and explain the situation to him.
He was shocked to have learned that both he and his cousin were special children. Dudley then decided, if magic was so great, then he would be able to bring his cousin back to life for his mother. If only Harry was here, then his mother would be happy once again. He would go to Hogwarts and learn magic, study hard and bring Harry back right after he had all his research done.
The following September that year, Dudley set off to Hogwarts.
Dudley had never liked his cousin Harry. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t like Harry, it was because he didn’t like the all the attention his own mother gave to Harry. It was disheartening at times to know that his own mother would pay more attention and care to his cousin. In the end, he still didn’t like Harry; Harry had taken his mother away from him.
No one in the neighborhood noticed this, was what Dudley had thought. To any outsider, his mother was a woman of good standing, taking in her orphaned nephew and spilling love and care into him as if she were his mother instead. Outwardly, Dudley’s mother was a sweet woman, kind and considerate, though forgetful at times. Dudley, however, knew this was not entirely true. His mother was certainly kind and sweet, but not as compassionate as others may think. She was shrewd when it concerned the matters of strangers and outsiders. She was politely rude to those she didn’t like and warily cautious to strangers she didn’t know. Her attitude to her family was mainly indifference. She would go about doing her job as the good wife; keeping the house orderly and always ready to entertain guests. When they were alone with just the four of them present, she would be all stiff and formal with her husband, polite and considerate to her son and to little Harry, she would be full of motherly love and gentleness.
After the violent incident involving his father sending Harry to the hospital in a critical state and certain death, Dudley had changed. His views concerning his mother, father and even Harry were all shattered, and each of them were replaced with a much different role. His father became the antagonist, the one to break the happy family down even more before running off as a convicted criminal. His mother became an abused wife, a supporting character to fill in any holes in the plot, only there to support the family. He himself became a protagonist in the story with Harry gone; he would be leading the story from onwards. And Harry? Harry had become the tragic hero, he had died in an attempt to protect his second-mother from abuse.
Dudley did not know what to do to help his mother regain her footing in the real world. They would need stick together from onwards to keep the remaining family from functioning properly. His mother was the only real family he had left, and she to him. Harry was gone from their lives.
When he had heard that Harry had died, he didn’t know how to react. What he did know was that ‘dead’ meant that a person wasn’t going to come back, ever. At first, Dudley had thought that he would be happy to hear such news, but soon he was sad and depressed. His mother was a mess, even less conscious of him than when Harry was around. Dudley hated Harry then even more. Why had Harry died?
It was many years later that Dudley learned that he was magical, and was invited to the magic school, Hogwarts and study there to become a fully trained wizard. He had never known about magic before and thought it to be a joke, until his mother had broken down at the sight of the letters sent to the house. Yes, letters. There were two parchment letters, one addressed to Dudley, and the other to Harry J. Potter c/o Petunia Dursley, No.4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. His mother had been like that for days until she managed to calm down and explain the situation to him.
He was shocked to have learned that both he and his cousin were special children. Dudley then decided, if magic was so great, then he would be able to bring his cousin back to life for his mother. If only Harry was here, then his mother would be happy once again. He would go to Hogwarts and learn magic, study hard and bring Harry back right after he had all his research done.
The following September that year, Dudley set off to Hogwarts.
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